Fence-machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet E, G. MATHEWS.

FENCE MACHINE. No. 578,252. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

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(No Model.)

E O. MATHEWS. 4 Skeets-Sheet 2 FENCE MACHINE. No. 578,252. v Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

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E. C. MATHEWS. FENGE MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

' E. G. MATHEWS.

FENCE MACHINE.

No. 578,252. I Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

fill" UNITED STATES Pr i'rENT ()FFICE.

ELISHA O. MATHEWS, OF JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS.

FENCE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,252, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed June 8, 1896. Serial No. 594,751. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELISHA C. MATHEWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at J acksonville, in the county of Morgan and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is a machine for making woven-wire fences; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the gearing for operating the twisting and carriage-moving mechanisms. Fig. at is a perspective View of the traveling carriage. Fig. 5 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, showing the traveling carriage and its connections. Fig. 6 is a detail section of the principal driving-gearing. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the twisting mechanism; and Figs. 8 to 16, inclusive, are diagrammatic views showing the manner of twisting the wires.

In carrying out my invention I erect upon the floor of the workroom a series of posts or standards 1, which support a bed 2. Upon the bed 2 I erect a number of short standards 3, which support the traveling carriage and the gearing for operating the same. The main driving-shaft at is journaled upon the standards 1 below one end of the bed 2 and is provided at one end with a crank-arm 5 and at its other end carries a band-pulley 6 and a clutch 7. Power is transmitted to the machine through the band-pulley from a lineshaft, and the clutch permits the same to be thrown in or out of gear at the will of the operator. At the opposite end of the bed I mount thereon a series of spools or drums 8, over which the woven fence passes before being wound on a reel or drum 9 below the bed. This reel is secured on a shaft 10, which is journaled on two of the posts 1 and carries a pulley 11, connected by a bolt 12 with a similar pulley 13 on the shaft of the spools 8, which 7 said shaft is also provided with fast and loose pulleys 14 15, so that power may be applied thereto from the line-shaft as needed in the operation of the machine.

Journaled upon the posts or standards 3 nearest the left-hand end of the machine are two shafts 16 17, upon the front ends of which are the intermeshing gear-wheels 18 19, of similar construction, and meshing with the upper of these gear-wheels 18 is a rackbar 20, formed on the under side of a rod or bar 21 at the upper end of the same, the lower end of said rod or bar being pivoted to the crank-arm 5, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. The wheels 18 19 are loosely mounted on their respective shafts 16 17 and in their side faces they are provided with recesses 22, the bases of which gradually merge into the faces of the wheels. Adjacent to the face of the gear- Wheel I secure to the shaft a collar or disk 23, through which projects a pin 24, which is normally pressed toward the gear-wheel and into the recess 22 therein by a spring 25, seated in a recess in the collar or disk 23 and bearing on the head of the pin. The outer end of the pin is bent over to engage ashouldered sleeve 26, mounted on the shaft adjacent to the disk or collar 23 and adapted to slide toward or away from the said disk. It will be noticed that the recesses 22, disks 23,

sleeves 26, and pins 24 are duplicated on the opposite sides of the gear-wheels, so that the gear-wheels may be made to rotate in either direction by lockin g them to their shafts on the proper side, and in order to effect this shifting of the direction of rotation I connect the sleeves 26 by links 27, as shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and 6. held in engagement with the gear-wheel by a keeper 28, consisting of straps or loops 29, fitted on the disks 23 adjacent to the gearwheel18, and rollers 30, journaled in the upper ends of said loops and bearing on the upper side of the bar.

The shafts 16 and 17 extend entirely across the machine and are journaled in suitable bearings on the standards 3, the shaft 17 being circular in cross-section only at its ends and being square through nearly its entire length, while the shaft 16 is circular through- The rack-bar is lOO out, but is provided with a longitudinal keyway, as shown. To the upper ends of the outer standards 3 are secured the track-rails 31, which extend entirely across the machine and upon which rests and slides a carriage 32, the carriage being provided with guides 33 on its ends, which engage the said rails 31. To prevent buckling of the rails, I construct them with horizontal ribs on their outer faces. The carriage consists of a suitable frame pro vided internally with a hanger or bracket 34, forming a bearing for the bevel-pinion 35, keyed on the shaft 16. This bevel-pinion 35 meshes with a similar pinion 36, secured on one end of a shaft 37, which is journaled in suitable hearings in the carriage and is arranged transversely therein. At about the center of this shaft I secure thereto a gearwheel 38, which actuates the twisters, as will presently appear. \Vithin the carriage, near the center and near one end thereof, I provide the depending hangers 39, to the lower ends of which I secure the slightly- U shaped plates or brackets 40, which are provided at their centers with the grooved semicircular enlargements 41, forming bearings for the twisterframe, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. The twister consists of an open rectangular frame 42, within which are mounted spools or reels 43', adapted to carry the wires for the transverse strands of the fence, the longitudinal strands passing between the spools. On the ends of the frame I form the circular trunnions or projections 44, the extremities of which are enlarged so as to present the disks 45, having the annular ribs 46, which are adapted to engage the grooves in the bearings etl and thereby support the twister so as to permit a free rotation of the same, as clearly shown. One of these disks is provided with gear-teeth -17 on its periphery, which mesh with the gear-wheel 38, whereby the motion of said gear-wheel will be imparted to the twister and the device operated. The disks are further provided with radial notches or open-ended slots 48, adapted to engage the longitudinal wires of the fence, and with a perforation 459, through which the transverse wire passes from the spool.

On the front side of the carriage 32 is j ournaled a shaft 50, having a bevel-pinion 51 on its left-hand end, which meshes with a similar pinion 52 on the shaft 17. The hub of said pinion 52 forms a sleeve 53, fitted around the angular portion of the shaft 17 and provided at its ends with the lateral lugs or cars 54., in which are journaled rollers 55, adapted to move along the shaft 17 and thereby permit the gearing to travel on the shaft with the least possible friction. The pinion 52 is held to the carriage so as to be always in mesh with the pinion 51 by the straps or brackets 56, secured to the carriage and engaging the hub or journal of the pinion. On

shaft 50 I secure or form the crank-arms or knockers 57 adapted to impinge against the lugs or posts 58, rising from the rails 59, se-

cured to and extending beetween standards 3 on opposite sides of the machine.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of my fence-machine being thus made known, it is thought the operation of the same will be readily understood. The wires for the longitudinal strands are brought from suitably-supported. reels (not shown) and carried over the bed of the machine to the drums 8, being passed around said drums and secured to the reel 9. The spools of wire for the transverse strands are placed in the twister-frame, and the band-pulley G is then permitted to rotate. The shaft 1 being thereby set in motion, the crank-arm 5 will rotate and move the rack-bar 20 upward, so as to set the pinion 18 in motion. The pinion 18 as it is carried around will be locked to the shaft 16 through the pin 24 and the disk 23, as will be readily understood, and consequently the said shaft will rotate with the gear-wheel, the rotation being communicated through the gearing 35 36 to the shaft 37 and the gear-wheel 38 011 said shaft. The gearwheel will of course immediately cause the rotation of the twister, and the several parts are so proportioned that one stroke of the rod 21 and one complete revolution of the wheel 18 will cause three and one-half revolutions of the twister, and consequently twist the transverse wires around the longitudinal wires three and one-half times. In its initial position the twister-disk has one notch 48 engaging the first longitudinal fence-wire, and

in its revolution it carries the said longitudij nal wire so as to cause a twisting or wrap i ping of the transverse wire thereon, as illusj trated in Figs. 8 to 15, inclusive. of one-half a revolution of the twister-disk the longitudinal wire has been carried over At the end and rests upon the transverse wire, as clearly shown in Fig. 9, and the-continued movement of the disk will then necessarily cause a bending or twisting of the transverse wire, so that at the end of one complete revolution the said transverse wire will have been given a halfturn. Thetwistingiscontinuedfortheproper interval, and the carriage is then automatically caused to travel so as to slip the twisterdisks from the longitudinal wire just acted upon and engage them over the next adjacent wire, as shown in Fig. 16 and as will now be described.

Vhen the rod 21 makes its upward stroke, it actuates the gear-wheels 18 and 19, and the wheel 18 rotates the shaft 16 and through the same operates the twisting mechanism, as above described. On the downstroke of the rod, however, the wheel 18 rotates freely on the shaft and the wheel 19 is made fast to the shaft 17 so as to actuate the same. The-said shaft being thus set in motion, the pinions 52 and 51 are rotated, and consequently the shaft 50 is set in motion. The knockers 57 on said shaft are thereby brought into contact wit-l1 the lugs 58, which serve as fulcrums upon which the knockers move the carriage forward, as will be readily understood. hen the carriage has been moved entirely across the machine, the driving band pulley is thrown out of gearby suitable levers (not shown) and the winding-reelis thrown in gear by suitable mechanism, (not shown,) so that the woven portion of the fence is wound up, as will be readily understood. After the Woven portion has been wound the parts just mentioned are returned to their normal positions and the link 27 is pushed to one side, so as to shift the locking side of the wheels 18 and 19. The rod 21 will then look the wheel 19 to its shaft on the upward stroke, and consequently cause the carriage to be moved toward the opposite side of the machine. It will thus be seen that the machine is operated alternately from the opposite sides and that two transverse Wires are woven at one operation. By multiplying the twisters more wires may be woven.

The machine is arranged compactly and operates positively and automatically, the only operation required of the attendant being the shifting of the several gears at the end of each transverse strand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fence-machine, the combination of a bed, a track mounted on the bed and provided with upwardly-projecting lugs, a carriage adapted to travel over the bed and carrying the twisting devices, a shaft mounted on the carriage and provided with radial arms or knockers adapted to engage the lugs on the track, and mechanism for intermittently rotating the said shaft and thereby causing the travel of the carriage.

2. In a fence-machine, the combination of the bed, standards erected thereon, tracks secured to and extending between said standards, lugs projecting upward from said tracks, a carriage adapted to travel over the bed, a rotary shaft mounted on the carriage and provided with radial arms or knockers adapted to engage the lugs projecting from the tracks, a shaft mounted on the standards, means for rotating said shaft, and a pinion slidingly mounted on said shaft and held to the car- I rlage so as to transmit motion to the shaft on the carriage.

3. In a fence-machine, the combination of the angular shaft, a pinion mounted thereon and having an angular hub or sleeve fitted around the shaft, and rollers mounted on the ends of the sleeve and bearing on the shaft.

4. In a fence-machine, the combination with an operating-shaft, of a gear-wheel loosely mounted thereon and provided with tapered recesses in its side face, a disk or collar secured on the shaft adjacent to the gear-wheel, a sliding collar mounted on the shaft adjacent to the disk, and a pin carried by said collar and projecting through the disk to engage the recess in the side of the gear-Wheel.

5. The combination with an operatingshaft, of a gear-wheel loosely mounted thereon, and provided with tapered recesses in its side faces, disks secured to the shaft adjacent to the gear-wheel, sliding collars mounted on the shaft beyond the disks, pins carried by said collars and projecting through the disks to engage the recesses in thesides of the gearwheel, and a link secured to and connecting the said collars.

6. The combination with the parallel shafts, 1

of gear-wheels loosely mounted thereon and intermeshing, said gear wheels having tapered recesses in their sides, disks secured on the shafts next the gear-wheels, sliding collars mounted on the shafts beyond the disks, pins carried by said collars and projecting through the disks to engage the recesses in the gearwheels, and means for sliding the collars.

7. The combination with the operatingshaft, of a gear-wheel loosely mounted thereon, means for locking the said wheel to the shaft, a reciprocating rack-bar meshing with the gear-wheel, and a keeper passing over the rack to maintain the same in mesh with the gear-wheel.

8. In afence-machine, the combination with the carriage and the hangers depending therefrom and having grooved enlargements at their lower ends, of a frame fitted between said hangers and provided at its ends with enlargements having annular ribs adapted to engage the grooved enlargements of the hangers and thereby support the frame, and means for rotating the said frame.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELISHA O. MATHEW'S.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES A. BARNES, JOHN A. BELLATTI. 

